The Mets, who just two weeks ago swept their rival Philadelphia Phillies and inserted themselves back in the NL East race, have been a shell of the team from the beginning of the year. The Mets were dominant in April, going 19-8. Going into May, their record sat at 21-10. However, the Mets faced their first real struggle of the season after they played a bad series against the Yankees and got swept by Boston. However, the Mets weathered the storm and managed to finish the month of May 15-12, giving them a solid 36-22 record heading into June – the Mets were thriving. On June 12th, the Mets sat at 45-24, atop the NL East. Today, September 14th, they are 77-73, clinging onto the last NL wildcard spot for dear life.
Coming out of Detroit, the Mets’ morale was high. They had just taken 2/3 from one of the best American League teams, and were now headed to Cincinnati to play a crucial series with the Reds. The Reds and Giants are the two main contenders for the last wild card spot, and the Mets had an opportunity to do serious damage against the Reds. Instead, they lost the series, taking only one game in a series where the Mets’ bats went silent.
As if the series against the Reds was not intense enough, they now had an even bigger challenge: step into Philadelphia for a four-game set against the Phillies. The NL East, which by this point was looking farther away than it looked all year for the Mets, could be close if the Mets managed to take ¾ or potentially sweep. In game one, Mets rookie phenom Nolan McLean pitched 5.1 innings, only allowing a single earned run, an impressive start considering the Phillies saw him as recently as a week ago. The bullpen did its job, but the Mets came up short, losing 1-0. The next night, the Mets did something no team has ever done before-not show up to the stadium. Well, they did, but mentally they were disconnected. Sean Manaea had another abysmal outing, giving up four earned runs in 5 innings. Justin Hagenman went the rest of the way, giving up 5 in the 9-3 loss. Mets fans were shown the same movie the next night as the Phillies unleashed an offensive barrage, beating the Mets 11-3. The next night, things went much worse. The Mets jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Phillies pitcher Jesus Luzardo pitched a gem, and the Phillies clawed their way back to win 6-4. The Phillies managed to retire the last 25 Mets in a row in one of the worst losses of the Mets’ season.
Vibes at Citi Field were somewhat good on Friday night. Despite being on a 6-game losing streak with the San Francisco Giants now breathing down their neck in the standings, Mets fans had something to be happy about as former Mets ace and fan favorite Jacob DeGrom was making his first start at Citi Field in almost 3 years. DeGrom, who left the Mets in the winter of 2022, was one of the best pitchers in franchise history and got plenty of cheers and support from the Citi Field crowd. This positive energy quickly dissolved after the Mets gave up 6 runs in the top of the first, with young pitcher Jonah Tong giving up 4 in 0.2 innings. The air was sucked out of the building before DeGrom even took the mound. Despite cutting the Rangers’ lead in half, the Rangers pulled away to beat the Mets 9-3. The next day, the Mets would go up 2-0, but in classic Mets fashion, they blew the game and lost 3-2. That night, the Giants had a chance to take the third wild card spot, but lost to the Dodgers, keeping the Mets in postseason position. In Sunday afternoon’s rubber match, the Mets got another quality start from Nolan McLean and put up two runs before Joc Pederson tied the game in the seventh with an RBI single. In the tenth inning, struggling reliever Ryne Stanek, who has found himself a candidate to be DFA’d, escaped a jam to strand two runners and keep the game tied. In the bottom of the tenth, Pete Alonso stepped in with nobody out and two runners on, and smacked a 401-foot walkoff homer to right field to snap the Mets’ losing streak and take the series against Texas.
In 2024, the Mets did something they have never done before: turn what looked like a lost season into a deep playoff run. This year, they aim to do another thing the Mets have never done-weather the storm, avoid a complete collapse, and contend in October. Their pitching rotation has struggled, and young rookies like Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat have been huge for the staff. The win today can give the team great momentum heading into the most important stretch of the season, but it will not be easy. The Mets’ remaining schedule is tricky-their last homestand consists of the Nationals and Padres. While the Nationals are manageable, the Padres are a team that, in recent years, has played incredibly well against the Mets. Their last two series are the Cubs and the Marlins. While the Cubs are a great team, the Marlins are what worry Mets fans, as the Mets have historically struggled against the Marlins, especially in Miami. If the Mets do not put distance between themselves and the rest of the teams in the hunt, we could risk seeing a repeat of 2007, when the Mets lost their playoff spot in the last series of the season to the Marlins, who had already been eliminated. Despite all the Mets fan superstitions, the Mets still have a good squad and a chance to make the playoffs. In baseball, the playoffs rely on one thing: who gets hot at the right time. This year, the Mets could really use that cold-weather hot streak.
